There were two changes of membership for this meeting; Councillor Allen-Williamson replaced Councillor Rodrigues and Councillor Nembhard replaced Councillor Kloss. 

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2023 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2023 were submitted and signed.

The following scrutiny committees and task groups have met since the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·       Finance Scrutiny Committee (27 June 2023)

The Chair of Finance Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Khan, updated the committee on the meeting that had taken place on 27 June 2023.

It was noted that the committee had discussed the movement of budgets between financial years and how this could be prevented. Members had also reviewed the revenue and capital budgets, noting that the economic outlook was difficult and it was important to ensure services were maintained and within budget.

  Discussing the Colosseum, it was underlined that it was a complex project with a hopeful completion date of mid-2024. Negotiations were ongoing with AEG who would be running the venue.

Scrutiny of the council’s finances remained an important part of the oversight process.  While Watford Council was not in a similar position, several councils had significant debt issues and there had been a failure of scrutiny to mitigate these risks.

To consider any executive decisions which have been called in by the requisite number of councillors.

No call-in had been received.

Report of the Associate Director of Customer and Corporate Services, Delivery Support Lead, Interim Executive Head of Human Resources and Intelligence, Performance and Improvement Lead

The committee received a report of the Associate Director of Customer and Corporate Services, the Delivery Support Lead, the Executive Head of Human Resources and the Intelligence, Performance and Improvement Lead.

                The Director of Performance delivered a presentation to the committee, which included highlights of the key projects within the Delivery Plan including the delivery of on-street charging points, the tree planting programme, practical completion of the new crematorium and a successful start to the community lottery.         

                The Executive Head of HR and OD delivered the update on the Organisational Development Strategy. This included the forthcoming People Strategy, the health and wellbeing workshops, the work around menopause awareness and the successful management development courses.

                The Intelligence, Performance and Improvement Lead provided an overview of the highlights of the key performance indicators. She noted that there had been good performance with 28 of the 36 indicators meeting or exceeding targets. A number of the street cleansing indicators had missed their targets and were challenging to meet. A number of changes would be implemented in the next quarter, including more challenging targets for waste and recycling and new targets for leisure centre usage. Other areas with challenges were delivery of affordable homes and the number of households in temporary accommodation.

                Discussing the report, the committee focused on the following areas:

·       The number of statutory homeless was lower than the previous quarter, which was surprising given the cost of living. Officers noted that there was often a delay in these wider issues resulting in homelessness but further details would be sought from the housing team.  The definition of statutory homeless was complex, depending, for example, in which council area a person became homeless.

·       The funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund was welcome but the current allocation represented a small portion of the overall project. Ongoing discussions were very positive and Watford’s community and diversity made it an exciting place to invest.

·       The impact of the economy being increasingly cashless on those who were fleeing domestic abuse situations and needed to access services without being tracked.

·       The reasons for the spike in households in temporary accommodation and the delay in developments being completed. The planning powers in relation to this were limited. The economic climate had had an impact on a number of developers with several in administration locally which had delayed the speed of delivery. Delivery of housing was not consistent throughout quarters, which also affected figures; measuring over the longer term was more appropriate.

·       The cost of living had affected council tax collection rates; the CAB provided support to encourage people to spread payments if they were struggling rather than missing payments. The target for the collection rate was based on the area and what was reasonable for the demographics and higher turnover of residents than other areas.

·       The online Report It functionality for street cleansing issues was much improved and more communications to encourage people to use it would be welcome.

·       Fly-posting was challenging to deal with and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Report of the Senior Democratic Services Officer

The committee received a report of the Senior Democratic Services Officer. Introducing the report, she noted that the establishment of this task was a recommendation of this committee in February 2023. The intention was to focus on maintenance and the damp and mould work.

                The following councillors had volunteered to participate:

·       Councillor Khan (Chair)

·       Councillor Hill

·       Councillor Clarke-Taylor

·       Councillor Grimston

·       Councillor Devonish

The committee noted that it would be interesting to understand the average length of time for maintenance to be completed and how visits were required.

Damp and mould was a serious issue for residents and a previous task group on this area had been an example of good practice.

Other councillors were able to attend the task group meetings as well as provide questions to task group meetings. Members had been advised that any member who was a current tenant of social rented properties would have a disclosable pecuniary interest and therefore would not be able to be a member of the group.

RESOLVED –

1.     that the committee establishes a task group to consider the areas set out in the scope.

                2. that the task group be comprised of the following members:

Councillor Khan (Chair), Councillor Hill, Councillor Clarke-Taylor, Councillor Grimston and Councillor Devonish.

er councillors were able to attend the task group meetings as well as provide questions to task group meetings. Members had been advised that any member who was a current tenant of social rented properties would have a disclosable pecuniary interest and therefore would not be able to be a member of the group.

RESOLVED –

1.     that the committee establishes a task group to consider the areas set out in the scope.

                2. that the task group be comprised of the following members:

Councillor Khan (Chair), Councillor Hill, Councillor Clarke-Taylor, Councillor Grimston and Councillor Devonish.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report and consider whether any further information is required.

The scrutiny committee was invited to review the current Executive Decision Progress Report for 2023-24 and consider whether any further information was required.

                    RESOLVED –

                that the current 2023/24 Executive Decision Progress report be noted.

Councillor Grimston, the Council’s appointed representative to the County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update.

The Chair, as the council’s appointed representative on Hertfordshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, noted that she had been unable to attend the meeting earlier that day. The next meeting would be on 12 October 2023.

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the current version of the work programme and consider any additional areas councillors wish to scrutinise.

Members were invited to review Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s draft work programme for 2023/24.  

At the September meeting, it was agreed that the focused item would look at street cleansing and waste and recycling. The committee also discussed staffing issues at the contractor.

RESOLVED –

That the Chair works with officers to incorporate members’ suggestions into the 2023/24 work programme.

·             Thursday 27 July (call-in only)

·             Wednesday 20 September

Members were invited to review Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s draft work programme for 2023/24. 

                At the September meeting, it was agreed that the focused item would look at street cleansing and waste and recycling. The committee also discussed staffing issues at the contractor.

                RESOLVED –

                That the Chair works with officers to incorporate members’ suggestions into the 2023/24 work programme.